ICC confirms charges against Libyan war crimes suspect

THE HAGUE, July 16 (Reuters) - ‌Judges at ​the ​International Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that a 48-year-old suspect accused of running one of the most ‌notorious prisons in Libya could be charged with multiple ⁠crimes, paving the way for his trial.

• Khaled Mohamed Ali Al Hishri ‌has been charged with 17 ‌counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including persecution, enslavement, torture, rape and murder between 2014 and 2020.

• Prosecutors ​say Al Hishri oversaw the women's wing in Mitiga, a detention centre run by the Special Deterrence Force known ⁠as Rada.

• Thousands of people were unlawfully arrested and kept without legal basis, held ​in inhumane conditions and systematically abused and tortured in Mitiga, according to the prosecution.

• In earlier ​hearings lawyers for Hishri have said ‌their client denies the charges.

• ICC judges this week confirmed they had jurisdiction over the case, ⁠rejecting a defence challenge that tried to argue the case did not fall under the U.N. Security Council resolution that gave the court ⁠legal authority to prosecute atrocities committed in Libya.

• Al Hishri's case would ​be the first ICC trial to focus on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya.

• The ICC has been looking into alleged war ‌crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya since such cases were referred to the court by the U.N. ‌Security Council in 2011, the year of a NATO-backed uprising in the ⁠country.

• No date for a ‌trial has been set, ​but it is expected to start early in 2027.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Editing by William ‌Maclean)

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